As the Department of Natural Resources sets the stage to begin the practice of spray irrigation of manure statewide, there are some points to this discussion that need to be addressed before such a volatile practice to both our environment and human health takes place.

The Kewaunee Health Department and Kitty Rhoades, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, refer me to the DNR for questions about the practice and its potential health impact on myself and my community. Both state and local health departments hold the same position: Currently the health department is being guided by the DNR on this practice.

The notion of going to the DNR with health questions seems as silly as going to the health department for questions on natural resources. The DNR's support and collaboration with the industrial agricultural farming sector is widely known. The DNR has already permitted expansions and growth beyond what our community can sustain. Is this the unbiased source to proclaim whether or not to dispose of the vast amounts of manure we now generate through an aerosolized spray?

This is the same DNR whose deputy secretary, Matt Moroney, proclaimed last spring that the "DNR is no longer a strong advocate for the environment one way or another." (Agri-view Feb. 28, 2013). For those of us living amongst the environmental degradation currently going on in the rural countryside, a breach of trust with this agency occurred a long time ago.

The health departments' response made me question health care provider roles, and the vow that those practicing medicine take - the Hippocratic Oath. The oath is a vow often taken by health care professionals and their duty to "do no harm," and to practice in an honest and ethical manner. "Do no harm" should not be shaped or manipulated by military, money, politics or corruption - such as corporate interests. We need a medical community that puts human health first, above all else, and works not only for optimum health for all of us, but preventative and protective health practices as well.

The precautionary principle must also become a part of this discussion. The precautionary principle, practiced as the exception and not the rule, here in the United States, states the following: "When an activity raises threats of harm to the environment or human health, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically... The precautionary principle applies to human health and the environment. The ethical assumption behind the precautionary principle is that humans are responsible to protect, preserve and restore the global ecosystems on which all life, including our own, depends." (Science and Environmental Health Network).

The DNR has told Kewaunee County that we are going to be part of a study that would reveal the "risk assessments" to the health of our community. It includes not only personal health, but the deteriorating health of our economy and environment here, already under a deluge of millions of gallons of untreated manure slurry making its way across our land base, and into our wells.

While the medical community, the DNR, DATCAP and others have created a great debate on the safety of the practice of spray irrigation of manure, implications of its threat and poisoning within our community are already here.

The voice of truth is a silent partner, found on our beaches fouled with cladophora algae, in our continued, worsening air quality in this region of the state, and at the bottom of our contaminated wells. The practices the DNR wishes to permit are non-negotiable. They harm the environment. They harm humans. They poison and contaminate.

No longer can we idly stand by while agencies and policies that do not serve the best interests of our community and its overall health - both physically and economically - fail. Foresight and preventative measures must be utilized, and the public must demand it. Choices must be made with only the highest regard for human health and our environment.